Phase II of Western Bypass project in Karnal moving at sluggish pace
Parveen Arora
Karnal, December 12
The Phase II of the Western Bypass project, which aims at easing the traffic congestion in Karnal, is progressing at a sluggish pace. Two deadlines have been missed and work on the project remains incomplete.
Request to extend Deadline to march 31
Work on the project’s Phase II started in March 2022 and was supposed to be finished by February 2023. However, since the work remained incomplete, its deadline was extended to July 2023. According to sources in the PWD (B&R) Department, officials have requested the headquarters that the deadline be extended to March 31, 2024.
A PWD (B&R) official claimed that around 70 per cent of the work is completed, but a ground report highlighted that a large portion of it is pending.
The project’s Phase I, which included the construction of a bypass road between the National Highway-44 near Uchana and Kaithal Road along the Western Yamuna Canal, is operational.
The Phase II, which comprises the construction of a 4.9-km road between Kaithal Road and Ghoghripur village via Hansi Road, is being undertaken at an estimated cost of Rs 27 crore.
Meanwhile, under the project’s Phase III, a bypass will be constructed from Ghoghripur to Bastara toll plaza, where it will be merged with the under-construction Eastern Bypass.
The ground report reveals that more than half the stretch comprising the bitumen work has been completed, while the levelling on the remaining stretch is underway. PWD (B&R) officials claimed that the project faces another obstacle as the work to construct a bridge on the Bazida Distributary has also been allotted to the department.
“Earlier, it was planned that the Irrigation Department would construct the bridge, but now the PWD (B&R) Department has been given the charge to build it,” said PWD (B&R) Executive Engineer Sandeep Singh. Around 70 per cent of the work has been completed, while the remaining work will be finished by the end of March, he added.
